Prime Hospitality Corp. began construction of five new AmeriSuites Hotels in January as part of its plan to double its AmeriSuites chain from 20 to 40 properties by the end of 1996. Two are in the Atlanta area, and the others in Dallas, Memphis and San Antonio. Prime plans to build up to 100 new hotels by the year 2000. A hotel at Miami Airport is scheduled to open soon.
DOT has renewed Fast Air's authority to operate scheduled cargo service between Santiago and Los Angeles. The carrier serves the route with DC-8- 71s (DAILY, Feb. 5). (Docket OST-96-1033)
DOT has renewed for two years United's exemption authority to operate code- share service with partner Lufthansa between the U.S. and Almaty, Kazakhstan; Minsk, Belarus; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Tallinn, Estonia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Asmara, Eritrea; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Malta; Tunis, Tunisia, and Thessaloniki, Greece. All service is operated via Frankfurt. The department dismissed United's request for renewal of its exemption authority to serve Kiev, Ukraine, noting that the carrier holds certificate authority for the route. (Docket 50398)
American Society of Travel Agents says Sabre's decision to abolish a toll- free help desk for travel agents is a "nickel and dime action" that comes at the wrong time. The toll-free line will shut down March 9. ASTA President Jeanne Epping said, "I would like to thank Worldspan, Apollo and System One for not following Sabre in this short-sighted decision to cut corners at the expense of their customers."
TWA's traffic slipped 1.8% last month, compared with January 1994. Capacity for the month was up 0.7%, and the load factor lost 1.5 percentage points, to 58.8%. TWA said systemwide freight fell 19.1% for the month while cargo dropped 8.8%. The airline carried 0.6% more passengers. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 1,765,200,000 1,797,100,000 Available Seat Miles 2,999,500,000 2,979,700,000 Load Factor (%) 58.8 60.3
USAir received renewal of its authority to operate scheduled service between Philadelphia and Paris. The carrier currently offers daily nonstop service on the route, using Boeing 767 aircraft. (Docket OST-95-1000)
National Transportation Safety Board is leading a U.S. team to aid in the investigation of the crash early yesterday of a 757 operated by Alas Nacionales, a Dominican charter airline, soon after takeoff from the coastal resort of Puerto Plata. Alas leased the aircraft, and the safety board said it was registered to Birgen Air of Turkey. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 189 persons aboard, most of them German tourists headed home.
Continental's traffic fell 4.6% last month from that of January 1994, but the airline's capacity was down much further, by 15.2%. Pulling back service pushed the carrier's load factor up 6.9 percentage points, to 62.7%. Traffic of regional subsidiary Continental Express increased 24.2% on 8.8% more capacity. The load factor was 45.0%, a gain of 5.6 points. January 1996 January 1995 Rev. Passenger Miles 2,998,252,000 3,144,076,000 Available Seat Miles 4,782,206,000 5,639,566,000
Abacus Distribution Systems has implemented the Abacus Transport Network in Bombay. The computer reservations system says it is the first to offer a dedicated network for agents in India.
AlliedSignal said its fourth quarter net income increased 14% to a record $233 million and full year net income rose 15% to a record $875 million, compared with the same periods of 1994. Lawrence Bossidy, chairman, said the company is in a "strong position to deliver another year of 13% to 17% earnings growth in 1996 despite forecasts of slower economic growth in the U.S.
Madrid will host the Travel Industry Association's Pow Wow-Europe 1996 Sept. 16-18 at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos. Pow Wow is a trade show and tourism academy designed to promote travel to the U.S. from Europe. Pow Wow-Europe is an annual event that gives U.S. travel suppliers the opportunity to generate new business and has become the forum for introduction of tour operators from new markets in Eastern Europe to the U.S., TIA said.
U.S. and Japan adjourned the current round of all-cargo negotiations yesterday in Tokyo without an accord. They agreed to resume Feb. 28 in Washington.
YTL Corporation of Malaysia and Apsara, Cambodia's agency in charge of overseeing development of Siem Reap Province, are negotiating a proposal to build a tourism park. YTL has proposed developing several luxury hotels, a commercial center and cultural and sports facilities over 10 years. Visitors to temples in Angkor totaled 50,000 in 1995, Cambodian officials report. The temples have been picked as areas to be promoted for tourism development. Foreign arrivals in Cambodia in 1995 were up 25% from 1994 to 219,680.
DOT granted American Trans Air authority to operate scheduled combination service between New York and two points in Ireland, Shannon and Dublin. The carrier said it plans to begin operating one weekly New York-Shannon roundtrip May 3, a weekly New York-Dublin roundtrip May 5 and two weekly New York-Shannon-Dublin roundtrips in June, using 362-passenger Lockheed L- 1011s and 216-passenger Boeing 757s (DAILY, Jan. 2). The carrier also has applied for renewal of its authority to operate scheduled combination service between New York and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Talks between Boeing and the Airbus Industrie partners on a very large commercial transport aircraft, shelved last year after several meetings, have been terminated by the Europeans. "They finally saw it was in Boeing's interest to keep the talks going," a source said. Boeing is evaluating enlarging its 747 series.
Hawaiian Airlines board members have elected John Adams, president of Smith Management Co., chairman of the board of directors. Former Chairman Bruce Nobles will stay on as president and chief executive. The changes will not affect Nobles' role in running the carrier, said Adams.
Reno Air, like its rival Alaska Airlines, is surviving the West Coast battle between Southwest and United by paring costs, squeezing the most out of its relationship with American, avoiding head-on conflict and just holding on. "It's been a long road to turnaround," Paul Tate, Reno Air's chief financial officer said recently at a financial conference. But Reno finally is there. For the first three quarters of last year, it had operating income of $3.4 million, compared with an $8.2 million loss in the same 1994 period.
Kiwi International Air Lines yesterday reported an improved financial performance in 1995 but turned in a $770,000 net loss for the year. The airline reported a $24.7 million net loss in 1994. While Kiwi acknowledged that it still is trying to line up $5 million through a private placement, Chief Executive Jerry Murphy emphasized the carrier's fourth quarter net profit of $94,000, a turnaround from a $7.9 million net loss in the same 1994 period. "We have needed to stabilize the company, which I believe we have done," Murphy said in a telephone news conference.
American Association of Airport Executives has added to its World Wide Web site the ability for users to listen to an audio version of its weekly Aviation News Today television program. Users download free of charge the software required to listen to the program. The address is http ://www.airportnet.org/news.htm.
Industry darling ValuJet posted strong fourth quarter and yearend 1995 results yesterday but warned Wall Street its first quarter may not be as rosy as expected. The carrier said unusually bad weather in January accounted for poor performance so far this year, but it also disclosed that its foray into Florida markets has not gone as well as planned, and it will receive its second and third MD-80 aircraft a month late. For the year, ValuJet reported net income of $67.8 million or $1.13 per share, up from $20.7 million or 44 cents per share in 1994.
With 75.3% of its flights arriving on time, Continental outperformed all U.S. carriers in December, breaking Southwest's string of six consecutive top monthly performances. Southwest still managed to hold on to first place for the year, however. Overall, the nation's 10 largest carriers posted a 67.7% on-time record in December, down from October's 77.9% record, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. Northwest was second at 73.8%, while Southwest slid to third at 72.5%. For the fourth month in a row, Delta placed last with 59.7%.
USAir Express said it will launch three nonstop flights March 2 between Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., and Pittsburgh, and it will add two new flights March 17 between Charleston, S.C., and Pittsburgh, all with Dornier 328 aircraft. VP Keith Houk said new flights to the Pittsburgh hub will increase access to Midwest and West Coast destinations. The flights will provide connecting opportunities to 27 more cities in the East, upper Midwest, California and Canada, he said.
United Technologies' Pratt&Whitney engine unit agreed to buy The Nordam Group's Propulsion Systems Div., P&W's first acquisition under a nearly two-year-old plan to triple its overhaul work from a $300 million sideline into a $1 billion core business by 1998. Located in Springdale, Ark., PSD repairs engine cases, frames and other components for large and small commercial and military gas turbine engines, auxiliary power units and aircraft, P&W said yesterday. PSD hushkit work on P&W JT8D engines is not part of the deal.
Singapore Airlines and American said yesterday they signed a code- share agreement, enabling the carriers to begin offering joint services between Singapore and Chicago, via Los Angeles or San Francisco, beginning July 1, 1996, provided they obtain government approval. Under the arrangement, SIA will carry passengers on its transpacific flights from Singapore to San Francisco or Los Angeles, where they will connect with selected American flights to Chicago.
